CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS
WiRED Expands Reconstruction Assistance in Vukovar
By Kristina Babic
Edited by Brian Jacobson
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October 2, 2002 - WiRED has introduced a new Community Health Information Center in Vukovar, Croatia-the site of the first
WiRED Center in 1997. The new Center joins the community activity at the Vukovar Institute for Peace Research
(VIPR). Since the Center opened on July 27, 2002, people have demonstrated their enthusiasm for the new resources by
constantly using the facilities. In fact, the night of the opening, Vukovar high school kids participating in a Conflict
Resolution Workshop at the European Institute for Peace in Austria were so intent on conducting research that the staff
extended the closing time.
The new Community Health Information Center aims to support the reconstruction efforts in Vukovar and the Croatia Danube
region through improved health information and education resources. These new resources are important because people
in the region have not had access to information on world developments in healthcare. Healthcare information resources
have become crucial as officials revise the Croatian healthcare delivery and insurance system. With movement away from
socialism and subsidized healthcare, visits to a doctor or medical facility become more expensive, less available to
people. The Center resources will give people a new option for finding ways to manage their own day-to-day health needs.
For example, the CD-ROM database answers many health-related questions and gives instructions on how to prevent disease
and other health problems. The topics covered by the database include nutrition guidelines, healthier eating suggestions,
heart disease education, and anti-smoking facts. Health professionals and members of the public will be able to browse
the database to research topics that are of interest to them.
Health professionals have discovered that the Center is also very effective for structured education programs. Doctors
in the nearby city of Osijek are developing education programs for young people on health problems such as smoking, HIV
infection, and basic health education. The Croatian League for the Fight Against Cancer plans to use the Center for a
campaign to introduce new methods of preventing and treating cancer.
The Center has also attracted interest as a more
general education service for unemployed people. The unemployed will have an opportunity, free of charge, to learn how to
use a computer to improve their employment options. They will be able to conduct research in their profession and to learn
new ways of applying their skills.
Celebrating Five Years of Progress
The new Center comes five years after Dr. Selnow set up the first Community Information Center in
Vukovar. Shortly, thereafter, the peaceful reintegration process for the Croatian Danube region was completed.
In January 1998 the troops that made up the United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia
(UNTAES) left the region. Members of different nationalities in Vukovar, a small town on the East border of Croatia,
were left alone to reconsolidate and find a new modus vivendi after more than seven years of communicating over ramparts.
During the war Vukovar was one of the most destroyed cities in the whole country. It was surrounded from all sides by
heavy Yugoslav army weapons and huge manpower. Thousands of people died, thousands were sent to prison camps, and more
than a thousand persons disappeared and are still unaccounted for today. Houses and factories were destroyed; infrastructure,
cultural monuments, and schools were all turned to ashes.
For the past five years, the people of Vukovar have been gradually picking up the pieces of their lives and returning to ways
they once knew. Croats, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ukranians, and members of other nationalities are returning slowly to Vukovar,
bringing back the colorful picture of multiethnic groups. People have begun to reconstruct their homes, although without any
visible urban planning or unified effort.
Economic development is the slowest area of reconstruction. Factory rebuilding does not have strong governmental support, and
private entrepreneurs are without proper knowledge and financial resources. Due to the low standard of living and constant
lack of money necessary for normal living, citizens of Vukovar are very demoralized. Depression is high and frustration
often reaches a boiling point-perfect conditions for anger and intolerance between the various ethnic groups.
To address conflicts that develop, the Austrian and Croation governments created the Vukovar Institute for Peace Research
(VIPR). VIPR focuses on resolving conflicts, nurturing tolerance, and teaching non-violent methods of interaction. Projects
at the Institute range from workshops for children to conflict resolution seminars for adults.
Although a great deal of reconstruction work remains in Croatia, the five years of progress are encouraging for the people
of Vukovar. WiRED's new Center offers great opportunities for Croatians to reach out to the world for information and to
unify all people and ethnic groups of Vukovar and the Croatia Danube region in the reconstruction effort.
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